AdvertisementIt is rare to read a document written by a public official that is as blunt as the NSW electoral commissioner’s letter to the state parliament’s joint standing committee on electoral matters.Commissioner Rachel McCallum warns that the agency she runs, which is fundamental to the conduct of state and council elections in NSW, faces “extreme risks to its ability to discharge its functions”.This risk is not on the far horizon. The funding shortfall that threatens the security of the commission’s IT system puts the very next poll in jeopardy.The NSW Electoral Commission says Chris Minns’ government has denied it the funding it needs to guarantee the smooth running of the next state election.Nikki ShortAs state political editor Michael McGowan reported this weekend, the commissioner believes there is now “an intolerable level of risk of election failure, or challenges to the validity of results, including potentially for the upcoming 2027 state election”.AdvertisementConsider the environment in which this stark warning lands. Plummeting trust in the political process in democracies worldwide. Sky-rocking levels of disillusionment in our political leaders. Disinformation, misinformation and political interference metastasising.What if, into this already combustible mix, NSW suffers a botched election? Quite apart from the financial cost of potentially having to re-run a state poll, either in part or in whole, the cost in public confidence in the system would be enormous.Counting in the 2011 election.Domino PostiglionePublic anger would no doubt be amplified by the bots and social media algorithms that have already been deployed around the world by a myriad of bad actors working to reduce faith in Western democracy.The issue is made more pressing by the steady drumbeat of recent stories about the power of artificial intelligence to hack government systems coupled with a propensity to go rogue.AdvertisementSo great is the risk from AI that the Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs has issued a directive to federal agencies that “urgent action be taken in relation to legacy systems”.A modernisation of the Australian Electoral Commission’s legacy systems is under way, but the Minns government has now twice rejected requests for the money needed to do the same in NSW.The treasurer says he has increased funding to the commission by 34 per cent since the 2022-23 financial year. But the commissioner is adamant she has neither enough money for core responsibilities nor to address the watchdog’s “technology deficit”.Like the better known Australian body, the NSW commission is an independent statutory agency, and is a bulwark against a rising tide of disaffection and disengagement from democracy.AdvertisementUnlike the sorry example of the US where, in many states, the redrawing of electoral maps is open to political interference and rampant gerrymandering, NSW voters can have faith that the Electoral Districts Redistribution Panel on which the electoral commissioner sits does not craft electorates to advantage political interests. Elections by and large run smoothly. Election laws are enforced.Along with compulsory voting, the secret ballot, and the preferential system, our independent electoral commissions are the jewels in the crown of our democracy. That the NSW agency has had to cry poor to successive state governments is bordering on negligent.While The Sun-Herald recognises the Minns government has a duty to guard the finances of the state and to use limited taxpayer dollars judiciously, it is hard to conceive of a more shortsighted and false economy than failing to provide the funds the NSW Electoral Commission says it needs to do its job.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.SaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.Gift iconGiftGift icon0 / 3No gift articles leftYou've used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.CloseShareLicense this articleMore:EditorialAINew South WalesAdvertisementAdvertisement